Allie Preston, Author at Friends of the Everglades

Everglades Illustrated: Cane burning risks human health

https://youtu.be/_89aQ3YSt-g Watch this video. Orange flames spit through the air as sugarcane leaves are burned from the stalk for harvest. Thick black smoke swirls and a single white bird wings its way above the fire. Florida Forest Service Active Burn Tracking Satellite Map - Feb. 8, 2022 Now look at this map. Each of those cones on the map indicates a sugarcane burn notice happening today and the direction of its plume. Dozens of these burns can happen on any given day from October to May, filling the air of surrounding towns with smoke and soot that can travel miles from the initial burn sites. At greatest risk are the children and the elderly residents of the Glades [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-08T11:38:53-05:00February 8th, 2022|All Posts, Everglades Illustrated, Sugarcane Burning|

Old Laws and New Health Threats

On February 1, 2022, environmentalist Maggy Hurchalla gave a presentation at The Edward and Bonnie Foreman Environmental Diversity Lecture Series at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, FL. The presentation, outlined in full below, discusses the frightening impacts of cyanobacteria as a world-wide problem and the challenges faced by the state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as they work to implement the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan amid this new public health threat. Old Laws and New Health Threats By Maggy Hurchalla I’m going to talk to you today about water law and water reality in a warming world and the real or imaginary conflicts that now exist. We didn’t have any water law in Florida until 1973. The [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-07T12:48:53-05:00February 7th, 2022|All Posts, Human Health and Safety, Lake Okeechobee, Toxic Algae|

Your moment of Everglades zen: Take the road less traveled

The road less traveled A friend of the Everglades, Dave Preston, shared images with us of a recent trip to Big Cypress National Preserve. Though not a part of Everglades National Park, the freshwater flowing through Big Cypress is essential to the health of the Everglades and many restoration efforts in South Florida intertwine the fates of the two ecosystems. When a plan arose in the 1960s to build an "Everglades jetport" on 39 square miles of wetlands in Eastern Big Cypress, Marjory Stoneman Douglas joined the resistance, founding Friends of the Everglades to galvanize support for preserving the swampy wilderness. We won that first fight — construction was halted after a single jetport runway was built — [...]

Allie Preston2022-02-07T15:03:26-05:00February 1st, 2022|Everglades Zen|

VIDEO: Will Florida Legislators make our fragile waterways better… or worse?

We're in the midst of another Legislative session in Tallahassee and it seems that the theme is the same this year as in years past. Despite all the water quality problems that we know are persistent in Florida, each year there are bills filed to further erode our pollution regulations and environmental protections. As Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples pointed out today, for those of us that speak up on these issues, it's easy to feel like we’re playing a lot of defense. During today's Clean Water Conversation, we broke down several of the best and worst bills being considered during this year's 60-day session. We'd like to extend a big thank you to VoteWater's executive director, [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-26T14:04:31-05:00January 26th, 2022|Clean Water Conversations, Florida Legislature|

Stop the LOSOM bait and switch

The Story The State of Florida is asking the Army Corps of Engineers for big changes to the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) that we do not support. Catch me up. LOSOM will determine when and where water flows from Lake Okeechobee for the next decade. During the LOSOM process, the Army Corps has indicated it would be responsible for dictating the movement of water from Lake Okeechobee when lake levels were above a “Water Shortage Management Line.” Once lake levels dropped below this line, control over lake flows would be passed to the state. Go on. Now, in a move that feels like an eleventh hour bait-and-switch, water supply interests are clamoring for greater state authority, demanding the [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-25T09:16:29-05:00January 25th, 2022|Action Alerts, LOSOM|

Letter to the Army Corps: Keep LOSOM fair and balanced

On January 21, 2022 we submitted a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of Friends of the Everglades, Calusa Waterkeeper, Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, Florida Oceanographic Society, and Conservancy of Southwest Florida articulating concerns regarding the South Florida Water Management District's proposal to create a 1.5 foot buffer zone in the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). During the LOSOM process, the Army Corps of Engineers has indicated it would be responsible for dictating the movement of water from Lake Okeechobee when lake levels were above a "Water Shortage Management Line." Once lake levels dropped below this line, management deference would be passed to the state. Now, in a move that feels like an eleventh hour bait-and-switch, [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-21T17:03:40-05:00January 21st, 2022|Friends of the Everglades Statements, LOSOM|

LOSOM: Who foots the bill for water supply’s insurance in Lake Okeechobee?

JUMP TO: Friends of the Everglades LOSOM Reaction As the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual process enters the next phase of development, the fight is less about how the plan is written — but whose finger is on the trigger. That was laid bare today, during the Army Corps of Engineers’ latest meeting on the lake plan. In recent weeks advocates for “water supply” — many of them sympathetic to Big Sugar and other agricultural interests south of Lake Okeechobee — have insisted the state of Florida, rather than the Army Corps of Engineers, must have the ultimate say in how the system is operated when the water in the lake drops near the “water shortage management band.” When the [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-12T17:19:08-05:00January 12th, 2022|LOSOM|

Everglades Illustrated: The power of seagrass

Last week’s 37th annual Everglades Coalition Conference has us thinking about the importance of a particular building block throughout the greater Everglades ecosystem: seagrass. During the conference, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava reminded us of an astounding fact: Florida wetlands, including mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows, are much more efficient at sequestering carbon than even rainforests — making them some of the most efficient natural carbon storage environments in the world and considerably boosting our natural resilience to the impacts of climate change. In Florida, seagrass benefits don’t just end there. Seagrasses provide critical nursery habitat and feeding grounds for countless fish and aquatic animal species. Years of unchecked pollution and algae blooms have caused mass die-off events [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-11T11:27:32-05:00January 11th, 2022|All Posts, Everglades Illustrated|

Friends of the Everglades 2022 Legislative Preview

The Florida Legislature will consider dozens of bills in 2022 that could have a significant impact on water quality, conservation, environmental justice and the health of the Everglades itself. In line with Friends of the Everglades’ 2022 Legislative Priorities, we offer the following analysis of bills being considered for the session that begins January 11, 2022: JUMP TO: Stop pollution at its source Prohibit oil drilling in the Everglades and Big Cypress Strip "particle emissions" from the list of protected farming practices Fully Fund Florida Forever Support legal rights for the natural environment Stop the assault on home rule Other Priorities Priority: Stop Pollution at its source Seagrass mitigation banks - OPPOSE SB 198 (Rodriguez) and HB 349 (Sirois) would [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-11T10:49:55-05:00January 5th, 2022|All Posts, Florida Legislature|

Your moment of Everglades Zen: Serenity Found

Weaving between the knees of a cypress grove, a male bobcat wades quietly through the water in a world that must feel like all his own. A friend of the Everglades gifted us this trail cam footage captured in the Everglades. Palmetto leaf reflections shimmer on the surface of the water as he peers back over his shoulder, taking in the stillness of his surroundings. As we’re sure many of you did, we took a moment this week to consider all that we accomplished in 2021 and our targets for the year ahead. The first week of the year invites resolutions, planning, mapping, charting and charging into the laundry list of goals and obstacles that each of us envisions tackling [...]

Allie Preston2022-01-03T15:57:28-05:00January 4th, 2022|Everglades Zen|

About Allie Preston